<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Atlanta&amp;nbsp;Hawks&amp;nbsp;guard Lamar Patterson looks down at a dark gray square with two clear, glass panels running through its&amp;nbsp;interior. In the middle, a circle glimmering with a blue backlight flashes a number in black: 213.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It\u2019s the lowest Patterson has weighed since his sophomore year in high school, when he starred for the nearly unbeatable McCaskey Tornadoes in his hometown of Lancaster, Pa. The No. 48 overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft steps on the scale each morning, peers down at his toes and snaps a photo to text his girlfriend India Hall, agent Adam Pensack, and Hawks team nutritionist Marie Spano.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI&amp;nbsp;step on a scale every morning. I step on a scale before and after workouts. I step on a scale every time I see a scale,\u201D Patterson says. \u201CThat number is amazing to me. I\u2019ve never, ever seen myself that low it\u2019s hard to believe.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;\u2022 MORE NBA: Top 50 games in 2015\u20132016 | Best players by jersey number&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;While all three of Loreen Patterson\u2019s boys played collegiate athletics, stockiness runs in the family. \u201CThey tend to gain quickly,\u201D she says.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CWe&amp;nbsp;just come from a naturally big family,\u201D says Lamar\u2019s brother&amp;nbsp;Perry Patterson, who started at quarterback for Syracuse from 2004\u201306. \u201CWe have the gene.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Loreen&amp;nbsp;partnered with her mother, Barbara Cameron, to raise the boys after she split with Perry Sr., and they raised hell in the kitchen. \"Each Sunday featured fried chicken, [the] most greasiest and unhealthiest way to cook it,\u201D Perry says.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Patterson cherished his mother\u2019s spaghetti. Loreen&amp;nbsp;cooked in a gigantic pot, each boy shoveling mounds of pasta onto his plate until the dish completely disappeared into their bellies. \u201CNo food went to waste in my house, I\u2019ll tell you that,\u201D Loreen says.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Patterson has turned one of the oldest sports clich\u00E9s into a reality, molding his 6\u20195\u201D frame quite literally into the best shape of his life. He\u2019s shed 22 pounds since returning from a year playing for Tofas Bursa in Turkey (he weighed 226 entering the NBA draft). And after solid Summer League averages of 13.1 points, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals in seven starts, the Hawks signed him to a three-year contract.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With a sudden hole on the perimeter following&amp;nbsp;DeMarre Carroll's departure to&amp;nbsp;Toronto, it was now or never for Patterson to finally drop the weight. \u201CWhat Atlanta wanted to see is: How badly do you want to to play in the NBA?\u201D Perry says.\r\n\r\n&lt;h2&gt;Family Business&lt;/h2&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Steve Powell first met Lamar Patterson as he yanked the two-year-old&amp;nbsp;boy\u2019s foot from the spoke of a bigger boy\u2019s bicycle wheel. From the moment he could walk, Patterson tried to follow his older brothers to Powell\u2019s summer clinics at a nearby park.&amp;nbsp;When he was lucky, Perry, who is seven years older, allowed his younger brother to accompany him. Patterson would play on the adjacent jungle gym and stare through the fence as his older brother dominated&amp;nbsp;the basketball court. \u201CIt was like being with your superhero all day,\u201D Patterson&amp;nbsp;says.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He sat in the stands for all of Perry\u2019s high school games, his eyes&amp;nbsp;never leaving his older brother as he memorized each of Perry\u2019s moves. \u201CWhen&amp;nbsp;I see him play, there\u2019s no way he didn\u2019t get that from me: The passing and the dribbling,\u201D Perry says.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the car ride home, Patterson would vow to his mother that, one day, he\u2019d surpass his older brother on the court. \u201CHe&amp;nbsp;never wanted to have Perry\u2019s number,\u201D Loreen says. \u201CHe always wanted to outshine Perry.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lamar later started playing football in addition to basketball\u2014only to prove he was superior&amp;nbsp;to Perry. He quit the sport before his senior year, though, after the offensive line crumbled far too often, leaving him susceptible to devastating sacks. He set a goal and succeeded at scoring higher than Perry on the SATs.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CLamar is a determined person,\u201D says his grandmother, Barbara. \u201CWhen&amp;nbsp;he says he\u2019s going to do something, trust me, he\u2019s going to put his whole self into trying to do it.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Patterson&amp;nbsp;transferred to St. Benedict\u2019s in New Jersey for his senior season, just 32 points shy of joining Perry in McCaskey\u2019 1,000-point scorers club. When Patterson returns for the school\u2019s annual Christmas Day alumni game, only Perry\u2019s name is emblazoned on the red&amp;nbsp;banner in McCaskey gym. \u201CEvery time I go back and look at that banner,&amp;nbsp;I\u2019m like... Man,\u201D Patterson says. &amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;h2&gt;The Pitt Years&lt;/h2&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;One&amp;nbsp;morning in September 2010, Patterson drove down Forbes Avenue en route to class, cruising through the Oakland section of Pitt\u2019s campus when a car stopped abruptly in front of his Volkswagen Jetta. As Patterson tried to jam on the brake, his flip flop became&amp;nbsp;caught&amp;nbsp;on the gas pedal and the car\u2019s turbocharged engine roared. Patterson veered&amp;nbsp;to the right to avoid rear-ending the vehicle, sending his car flying through the corner of a curbside conference room in Pitt\u2019s Eureka Building.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;\u2022 MORE NBA:&amp;nbsp;Myck&amp;nbsp;Kabongo&amp;nbsp;makes splash at&amp;nbsp;TBT&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Today,&amp;nbsp;Patterson says three barriers protect the corner of the building from the Forbes Avenue traffic. The accident is buried beneath countless moments of Patterson starring for Jamie Dixon\u2019s Panthers. Patterson led Pitt in scoring (17.1) and assists&amp;nbsp;(4.3) in his senior season, guiding the Panthers to a 26\u2013\u200B10 record and the third round of the NCAA tournament in 2013\u201314\u200B. \u201CHe was playing at as a high a level as anybody in the country,\u201D says head coach Jamie Dixon.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&amp;nbsp;took four years for Patterson to blossom under Dixon after first setting foot on campus as a nearly 250-pound, 17-year-old small forward. Dixon\u2019s staff has a history of transforming heavier recruits, with NBA players Aaron Gray and DeJaun Blair as his greatest&amp;nbsp;success stories. Similar to those players, Patterson\u2019s progression certainly didn\u2019t occur overnight. \u201CThere were times where we didn\u2019t think it was going to happen,\u201D Dixon says.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The&amp;nbsp;Pitt staff coaxed Patterson into extra conditioning\u2014stints on the elliptical, stairmaster and treadmill\u2014and each player met with the team\u2019s nutritionist. Patterson kept shedding pounds until he hit 216 on the scale. He was the focal point of Pitt\u2019s offense and NBA teams began&amp;nbsp;to take notice.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;h2&gt;Becoming a Hawk&lt;/h2&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Patterson\u2019s family and close friends gathered in a private room at the downtown Marriott in Lancaster, Pa., dining on a buffet and enjoying an open bar.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Several teams in the middle of the second round had expressed interest in the Pitt graduate, especially the Hawks, who owned the No. 43 overall pick and hosted Patterson in Atlanta for two pre-draft workouts.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When&amp;nbsp;the Hawks were on the clock at No. 43, he felt a familiar feeling, like an opposing lineman plowing into his gut. Atlanta had drafted Walter Tavares, a 7\u20193\" product who fostered his career in Spain. \u201CI was heartbroken,\u201D Patterson says. \u201CI really didn\u2019t think&amp;nbsp;I was getting drafted after that.\u201D \r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;MORE NBA:&amp;nbsp;Naming five best&amp;nbsp;backcourts&amp;nbsp;in the league&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The subsequent picks came and went with increasing speed, then Patterson\u2019s cell phone finally rang\u2014\u200Bit was Pensack. The Hawks were making a move with the Milwaukee Bucks, sacrificing their 2015 second-round pick to acquire&amp;nbsp;Patterson at No. 48.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CLamar is smart and has a good feel for&amp;nbsp;the game,\u201D former Hawks general manager Danny Ferry said in a release following the draft. \u201CHe\u2019s a good passer and fits well into our system in regard to his ability to see the court and pass the ball.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Patterson&amp;nbsp;followed the success of the Hawks\u2019 system under head coach Mike Budenholzer as best he could while overseas. He stayed in touch with Dennis Schroeder and Adreian Payne, before he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Atlanta\u2019s international scout Ojeda Perez visited&amp;nbsp;Bursa multiple times to check in with Patterson.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As Bursa\u2019s losses mounted, Patterson struggled to keep his weight&amp;nbsp;down. The language barrier provided another obstacle, preventing Patterson from ordering healthy foods. \u201CIt&amp;nbsp;took me until coming home to realize what [Atlanta] meant by tip-top shape,\u201D Patterson says.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Each&amp;nbsp;step on the scale now provides a small victory for Patterson. He feels primed to make the most of his opportunity, a chance at contributing to a legitimate Eastern Conference contender. With 13 players under contract and 2013 second-round pick Mike Muscala a virtual lock to make the roster, Patterson will likely battle Nebraska\u2019s Terran Petteway for the Hawks\u2019 15th spot.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His shooting touch and playmaking will certainly help his chances.&amp;nbsp;Patterson\u2019s vision is a rare, ancillary asset for a scorer. \u201CI do believe&amp;nbsp;it\u2019s a gift,\u201D Dixon says. \u201CIt\u2019s hard to develop. It seems to be a trait that you\u2019re given.\u201D&amp;nbsp;\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/nba/2015/08/17/lamar-patterson-atlanta-hawks-nba-tofas-bursa-mike-budenholzer-demarre-carroll>